Soldiers, Zanu thugs torture Marange civilians

Human rights defenders based in Marange have recorded that on September 28 two men identified as Trust Barwai and Nehemiah Ndiriwenyu from Charamba village, were brutally tortured by two soldiers.

They were well-known diamond dealers in the area, accused of having stolen some building material. Barwai reportedly died due to injuries he sustained during torture by the armed forces and was buried in a shallow grave on the banks of the Save River.

“The incident which led to the death of the two occurred in Zvipiripiri which falls under Charamba village. They were brutally assaulted by two soldiers identified as Farai Muzombi and Birias Zingori,” said the source, who declined to be named for fear of victimisation.

Ndiriwenyu was left in a critical condition and had to be hospitalised at Mutare General. The source said Ndiriwenyu later revealed the fate of his colleague to other villagers who came to visit him in hospital.

Shallow grave

“After Barwai’s death, a tip-off from other villagers led to the arrest of the two soldiers on 4 October last year. The same villagers also led the police to the site of the shallow grave where Barwai had been buried,” said the source.

In another incident on November 22, an unidentified man who had been heavily battered was brought to Mukwada Clinic in Marange Ward 29 by a group of soldiers who claimed he had been assaulted by illegal diamond dealers in Ward 30. He was referred to Mutare General where he died the next day.

“The man is believed to have been coming from an illegal settlement near Marange called Tenda. Nurses at Mukwada Clinic told us that the soldiers who brought him were claiming he had been assaulted by illegal diamond dealers. But efforts to get more information from the nurses were in vain and we suspect that they could have been intimidated into silence,” said the source.

A local Councillor in Marange who declined to be named confirmed the incident. “The case was reported to me by nurses at Mukwada Clinic who said that the man had been brought by a group of policemen and soldiers. He told them he had been assaulted by the soldiers and policemen. What makes me suspect foul play by the soldiers is the fact they did not produce a police report at Mutare General when they left the man there.”

Axed to death

On December 22 a Headmaster at Nyagundi School in Marange, Clever Marange, died after he was struck several times with an axe on the head by known Zanu (PF) activists who were part of the party’s terror group during the June 2008 elections.

Marange’s death, the source said, followed an altercation with his relative, Aaron Marange over the chieftainship. “It was after this argument that three people came to the Headmaster’s house in the early hours and forced entry. They took a small boy and blindfolded him. Then they struck Marange with an axe on the head and he died as a result of the injuries,” said the source.

Three Zanu (PF) activists, known only as Cephas, Cleopas and Charles Chikide, were arrested in connection with the murder. The three are well known militias in the area and they were part of a group that used to terrorise villagers during the June 2008 elections. After their arrest, a security guard at the school, identified as Weston Manyengavana, was arrested in connection with the murder.

The police spokesperson for Manicaland province, Assistant Inspector Enock Chishiri, said he had not received reports pertaining to the murder of Barwai and Marange. “I am not aware of those issues and I can tell you that we did not receive any reports of that nature,” he said.

Dog bites

Thousands of illegal diamond miners descended on the Marange fields from 2005 when the gems were discovered on a large scale. Very soon, President Robert Mugabe’s government unleashed the army and other State security agents on the miners, reportedly resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries – many of them from dog bites. This was documented by the BBC in a

Panorama investigation entitled “Mugabe’s Blood Diamonds”.

There have been reports of many people tortured and killed being buried in shallow graves, but the government has consistently denied this – vigorously restricting access to the area, which is cordoned off by the ZNA.

For a long time, the Kimberly Process that monitors the international diamond market and lobbies against blood diamonds, refused to licence Zimbabwe to sell the gems on a wide scale saying they were tainted by human rights abuses. They only succumbed last year, bowing to pressure from major markets China, India and South Africa.

Mysterious death

The area is also rife with rumours that an employee at Mbada Diamonds, Netsai David Matsika, died under mysterious circumstances on December 18.

“We are yet to get details from the company over the death of Matsika but we are told by some of his friends and relatives that the company paid $23,000 as compensation while another $12,000 was paid as terminal benefits,” said the source. “We tried to talk to Matsika’s wife but she is not forthcoming and workers at the company are not cooperating for fear of dismissal.”

Mbada Diamonds Corporate Services Executive George Manyaya said Matsika had died as a result of an “accident”.

“What happened is that he was run over by a reversing truck while he was at work. It was an accident and there is nothing mysterious about his death. Actually, everything about his death was recorded in accordance with the required legal procedures,” said Manyaya.

He said it was not true that the company had paid compensation to Matsika’s family. “At the moment we are actually liaising with his family so that we pay them the pension for Matsika and it is not true that we gave them any money. It takes time to process pension allowances but we will be paying them to the family very soon,” he said.